At a glance

Closed

Provides local government agencies, not for profit organisations and companies in the Upper Spencer Gulf region in South Australia with matched funding to the limit of available funds ($20 million) for projects that help to diversify the regional economy, stimulate economic growth and deliver sustainable employment in the region.

Who can apply:

At a minimum, you must:

have an ABN

have a project which:

is located within or directly benefits the Upper Spencer Gulf region

aligns with the priorities of the region's Local Investment Plan

aligns with either the local investment, business innovation or skills and training stream.

Funding streams

The funding available to the Upper Spencer Gulf region is $20 million over the three grant funding streams. The grant amount will be up to 50% of eligible project costs (grant percentage).

You are required to provide the remaining 50% as co-funding towards your project. If you are a non-business applicant experiencing exceptional circumstances you may seek an exemption from the co-funding requirement.

For more information on co-funding and the exceptional circumstances co-funding exemption please refer to the Program Guidelines.

Local infrastructure grants

These grants are for local governing bodies and not-for-profit organisations to invest in new or upgraded infrastructure. These projects will capitalise on opportunities for growth, deliver long-term economic benefits to regional communities and create jobs.

The minimum grant amount is $50,000

The maximum grant amount is the limit of grant funding for the region

Business innovation grants

These grants will enable business to build scale and capability to be competitive in new or growing markets that create sustainable employment.

The minimum grant amount is $50,000

The maximum grant amount is the limit of grant funding for the region

Skills and training grants

These grants will provide funding to local government bodies and agencies and not for profit organisations. These projects will support training and upskilling of the regional workforce to meet regional priorities, take advantage of emerging opportunities and withstand major labour market changes.

There is no minimum grant amount

The maximum grant amount is the limit of grant funding for the region

Upper Spencer Gulf region

The Regional Jobs and Investment Packages (RJIP) region covers the three local government areas of Port Pirie Regional Council, Port Augusta City Council, and Whyalla City Council.

Map of the Upper Spencer Gulf RJIP boundary

Local Planning Committee

To be competitive for funding, your project must align with the Local Investment Plan for the Upper Spencer Gulf region.

The Local Investment Plan identified strategic industry priorities for the region, including industry growth sectors, new market opportunities and future workforce needs.

The Minister for Regional Development appointed a Local Planning Committee in the Upper Spencer Gulf region to develop the Local Investment Plan.

Local Planning Committee membership

Ms Claire Wiseman (Chair)

Mr Brenton Badenoch

Mr Andrew Cole

Mr Mark Hanlon

Mr Daniel Rowlands

Mr Brenton Vanstone

Mr Jack Velthuizen

In addition, the following Australian and state government representatives were appointed in an advisory role:

How to apply

The application period closed at 5pm AEST on Thursday 19 October 2017.

How we assess applications

We first assess your application against the eligibility criteria and then against the merit criteria. Only eligible applications will proceed to the merit assessment stage.

We will assess your application against the merit criteria and compare it to other eligible applications in your region, and across all streams, before recommending which projects to fund.

We may also seek advice from local, state or territory and Australian Government agencies, independent experts and other external parties.

We then provide advice to a Ministerial Panel on eligible applications and recommendations on which projects to fund. The Ministerial Panel decides which grants to approve taking into account our recommendations and the availability of grant funds.

If your application is successful

If your application is successful you will receive a written offer. To accept the offer, you will need to enter into a grant agreement with the Commonwealth. The grant agreement will contain the schedule for payments.

We will make payments quarterly unless otherwise agreed, in arrears, based on:

your achievement of milestones

eligible expenditure incurred

our acceptance of satisfactory progress reports.

Grants for Skills and training projects will receive an initial payment on execution of the grant agreement.

If you are unsuccessful, we will notify you in writing and give you the chance to discuss the outcome with us.

Key documents

Program guidelines

Upper Spencer Gulf region Local Investment Plan

Factsheet – Overview

Factsheet – Local infrastructure stream

Factsheet – Business innovation stream

Factsheet – Skills and training stream

Frequently asked questions

Sample application form – Local infrastructure stream

Sample application form – Business innovation stream

Sample application form – Skills and training stream

Sample grant agreement – Simple

Sample grant agreement – Standard

Board or CEO approval letter template

Accountant declaration

Was this helpful?

Thanks for your feedback. If you have any ideas on how we can improve, we'd love to hear them.

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to them and their cultures and to the elders past and present.